Heading Past the Header
by BloodLily16
Summary: When you read stories you find similarities between the characters. Sometimes they have similar names, species, etc. Why? Because, they are the same people, over and over. Ahiru is a human girl, mistreated by the head of the orphanage. But when she's adopted by a woman, she learns a secret, one that could change the way we view a book... I don't own Princess Tutu! T for violence.
1. Prologue

Once there was a prince, who was loved by all his subjects, except for a powerful wizard, who wanted the throne for himself. So he took a girl from the nearby village and made her beautiful as the stars, with a heart as dark as the night sky, the cunning of a crow, and a deep loyalty to him alone. He planted her in the royal city and set upon her a figure of enchanted clay. The Prince found her and slew the figure, and was captivated by the beauty of the girl.

Eventually he married her, and on their wedding night, she let the Wizard into the castle where he cast a spell on the Prince, shattering his heart and using the Prince's dark emotions to curse several who had wronged him in the past, scattering the rest of the shards around the kingdom. The Prince was easily manipulated into giving up the throne to the Wizard and his consort, who ruled for many years, stealing from the oblivious people to add to his comfort.

One day a witch, who was living deep in the woods, discovered what was wrong. She searched for a way to break the spell, to find the one who loved the Prince the most. Eventually she happened upon a duck. The Duck, the Witch found, indeed was the one she had been looking for.

She gave the Duck a magic pendant, which turned her into a girl and gave her the power to find the shards and soothe the ones the Wizard had cursed.

"I will come with you," said the Witch, "and protect you from the Wizard."

Soon they had gathered all of the shards, but the Wizard killed the Witch before she could help the Duck give the heart back to the Prince.

Carrying the heart of the Prince, the Duck ran to the castle to give his heart back to the Prince.

There were many dangers, for she no longer had the Witch's protection, but the force of her love drove the Duck on. When she reached the castle, between her and the Prince was a wall of cursed fire that would burn the Duck into a crisp.

The Duck still jumped through the wall, the last vestiges of the Witch's power saving her. But the pendant shattered and the Duck returned to her true form.

"A duck?" Asked the Prince when he saw who had returned his heart to him, "It was a Duck that saved me?"

In fury, the Wizard enchanted the people to run at the Prince in a last effort to kill him. The Duck defended him as best she could, but the Girl held her fast, transforming into a giant crow. The Duck evaded the Crow, trying to save the Prince, but she did not know how to, for the pendant had shattered, and all of the magic with it.

In a last effort, the Duck flew at the Wizard, distracting him enough for the spell to be broken. The Prince killed the Wizard, but was sorrowful, for the Duck was hurt.

The Witch's spirit appeared and tried her best to save the Duck, but the Duck still lay dying. At last, the Witch brought out a pair of berries.

"The berries," said the Witch, "are magical. If a person lays dying, that person, plus another, may eat them, and the healthy person's strength will heal the person. But, the more severe a wound, the more strength is needed. If you do this, I cannot guarantee your life."

"She saved my life, and the lives of all around her. Never have I met so courageous a creature." The Prince took the berries and fed one to the Duck, then took one for himself.

The Duck sat up and looked around. She became human again, and confessed her love to the Prince. The Prince, it was revealed, shared her feelings.

He married her and they lived happily ever after.

Or did they?


	2. Cuisine Sanglante

"Ahiru! Get your fat rear end up and out of bed this instant!" Shouted Mrs. Brewster. The ginger girl shot up.

"I'm so sorry for oversleeping Mrs. Brewster, m'am!" She said. The beautiful dark-haired woman scowled.

"If you were sorry you wouldn't do it. Now get to work!" She pointed to the list of chores that always gave Ahiru more than the others. Ahiru sighed.

"Yes m'am." Ahiru said and grudgingly set to work sweeping up the rooms. After a while, the other girls had finished with most of their chores, except for the ones that required dinner to be served and Ahiru was left cleaning the Kitchen.

"Oh!" Said a voice. Ahiru looked up to see a woman in a maid's uniform. "I'm sorry, I thought all the orphans were up front with Mistress de Sang." Ahiru shook her head, then started.

"But no-one comes here! Mrs. Brewster said so!" A tall red-haired woman came in. She was wearing a red dress and a black coat.

"Tory, what is taking you so long?" The woman asked with a French accent. "Oh!" The woman said when she saw Ahiru, putting her hand up to her chest. "Sacre Bleu! Pardon moi, I thought that all you children were up front with Madam Brewster." She wrinkled her nose. "Zat woman is an imbecile! I swear, she is a born sneak!" Ahiru nodded.

"Mrs. Brewster is mean. She gives me the most chores and yells at me all the time! One time she called me something and when I asked what it was she said that it meant 'poop' and that I was no better than it." She lowered her head sadly. The redhead lifted up Ahiru's chin.

"What did she call you, child?" Ahiru looked at her.

"A piece of $&#%." The red-haired woman let out a shriek.

"Madame Brewster, get in here zis very instant!" Mrs. Brewster bustled in.

"Mademoiselle de Sang, what is it?" The red-haired woman screeched at her in rapid French, then said-

"YOU ARE DISMISSED!" Mrs. Brewster recoiled, then glared at Ahiru.

"YOU LITTLE SQUEALER!" She grabbed a knife and stabbed Ahiru. Ahiru screamed as the knife plunged into her skin, severing muscle and tendons. Then there was a gunshot and Mrs. Brewster touched her stomach. Her fingers came up dripping with blood.

Tory screamed and ran out to get the police while Mademoiselle de Sang put the revolver back in her purse.

When the police came in they found a young girl with a knife in her shoulder, a woman with a bullet-wound in her gut, and another woman standing over the two.

**BloodLily16: And THAT is why it's rated T.**

**Ahiru: Why'd you let me get stabbed?!**

**BloodLily16: So I could shoot Mrs. Brewster.**

**Ahiru: So YOU could?**

**LauParisi: Thanks!**

**BloodLily16: Bye! R and R! **

**Ahiru: Wait a-**


	3. She Could Be The One

Mademoiselle de Sang stepped into the room. At the sound of the door, a man turned around.

"Lily! Do you have to act like a compulsive idiot all the time? It's all over the news, how you shot the woman." De Sang shrugged.

"It was not like I had much of a choice Fakir. When I see a woman stabbing a little girl, I act on ze instincts, you know?" The man grumbled, well, teenager would be a more appropriate term. His eyes and hair were a dark green, And despite his Arabic name, he was of Japanese heritage.

"And now you've adopted the girl? You truly are compulsive!" De Sang looked Fakir straight in the eye.

"Her name is Ahiru, Fakir." Fakir, for once in his life, was speechless.

"Ahiru? As in duck? As in the Duck? The one from the Prince and the Raven, and from the Prince and the Duck? You found her?" De Sang held up her hand.

"Congratulate me later. Ze woman I shot was ze consort from ze Prince and ze Duck, and from ze illustrations, I gather she may be Princess Krahe, as well as from the transformation into ze crow. Unless I remember incorrectly, she was always near ze Wizard." Fakir nodded.

"You do realize that the Wizard is..."

"I know Fakir. He has ze power of an author. But your suspicions are unfounded. It must be Drosselmeyer." Fakir nodded.

"That Ahiru girl is the key." He said, unaware of the aforementioned hiding behind the door. "She could be the one."

**BloodLily: And another chapter is done!**

**LauParisi: Is this better?**

**KarrisaLaDoe: Thanks! :D**

**asia2000lover: Thank You!**

**BloodLily: Also, if you can, go to Google Translate and translate 'sang' into English. You'll get a kick out of it, I'm sure! ;) R&R!**


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